This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Plumbing and Mechanical (pmmag) logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Plumbing and Mechanical (pmmag) logo
  • Home
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Digital Edition
    • Archives
    • Product Focus
    • Truck of the Month
    • Plumber of the Month
    • Tool Tips
    • PM Profile
    • Ad Index
    • Bookstore
  • Market Sectors
    • Plumbing News
    • Mechanical Systems
    • Radiant/Hydronics
    • Solar Thermal/Geothermal
    • Green
    • Bath & Kitchen
    • Fire Protection
    • Water Quality
    • Technology
    • Codes
    • Business Management
  • Columnists
    • John Siegenthaler: Hydronics Workshop
    • Al Levi: Managing your business
    • Dan Holohan: Heating Help
    • Kenny Chapman: Blue Collar Coach
    • Adams Hudson: Marketing Strategies
    • Jim Hamilton: The Bottom Line
    • Ray Wohlfarth: The Boiler Room
    • Nicole Krawcke: Editorial Opinion
    • Julius Ballanco: Plumbing Primer
    • Matt Michel: Service Plumbing Pros
    • Dave Yates: Contractor’s Corner
  • Blog
    • The 7-Power Contractor
    • PM On The Road
  • Radiant & Hydronics
  • Multimedia
    • PM AHR Expo 2019 Videos
    • Photo Gallery
    • PM Network Videos
    • PM YouTube Channel
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
    • Showrooms
    • eBooks
  • Products
  • More
    • History of Plumbing
    • Industry Calendar
    • Classified Ads
    • Industry Links
    • Radiant Comfort Report
    • Green Plumbing & Heating
    • PVF Outlook
    • PB Outlook
    • Sponsor Insights
    • eNewsletters
    • Subscribe to Plumbing Group eNewsletters
    • Market Research
  • Directories
    • RCR Buyers Guide
    • B.I.G. Book
    • Rep Locator
  • Contact
    • Advertise
Home » PM Profile: NIBCO's Steve Malm and Ashley Martin
Plumbing NewsPM Profile

PM Profile: NIBCO's Steve Malm and Ashley Martin

Five generations of American manufacturing at NIBCO.

PM Profile: NIBCO's Steve Malm and Ashley Martin

NIBCO President and COO Steve Malm (right) with Senior Vice President of Wholesale Sales Ashley Martin at company world headquarters in Elkhart, Indiana. Photo credit: Angie Fann

NIBCO is the midst of a $100 million capital investment in its facilities over the last four years

NIBCO is the midst of a $100 million capital investment in its facilities over the last four years. Pictured is the Blytheville, Arkansas, plant, which is one of four NIBCO facilities undergoing expansions totaling 350,000 square feet. The Elkhart, Indiana, manufacturer is steadfast in its commitment to American manufacturing. Photo credit: NIBCO

PM Profile: NIBCO's Steve Malm and Ashley Martin
NIBCO is the midst of a $100 million capital investment in its facilities over the last four years
April 12, 2018
Mike Miazga
KEYWORDS pipe, valves, fittings / plumbing manufacturer
Reprints
No Comments

Elkhart, Indiana-based NIBCO has come a long way from its beginnings in 1904 as a manufacturer of brass keys for musical instruments. Today, the valve, fittings and flow-control products manufacturer has grown to nine U.S. manufacturing facilities, five distribution centers and 2,200 employees while offering more than 30,000 SKUs to its customers.

Over the past two years, NIBCO has expanded its footprint with the acquisitions of Sure Seal and Webstone, further expanding its reach in the industrial and hydronics markets. NIBCO’s leadership spans five generations, and the company remains privately held.

Plumbing & Mechanical recently visited NIBCO world headquarters in Elkhart and talked with President and COO Steve Malm and Senior Vice President of Wholesale Sales Ashley Martin, who represents the fifth generation of family ownership, about a variety of topics, including the company’s large investment in research and testing, its current expansion projects, the Webstone acquisition, and their views on the industry and NIBCO’s future.

 

PM: What does the current landscape in the industry look like?

SM: We see a pretty good building environment in the near term. Housing starts are tracking with household formations, so that trend is improving. We’re seeing data that suggests 1.5 million household formations a year through 2020, which is much better than the 900,000 average the last five years. The nonresidential construction recovery is nearly complete and the remodeling and repair market is strong.

 

PM: What trends are you seeing throughout the industry?

AM: Technology has taken off. Anything that helps shorten labor time or makes it easier for installers is popular. For us, press has gained momentum and PE-RT and PEX have made it so much easier for contractors. We’re also seeing the hydronics market taking off. That’s an area that’s doing very well for us since we’ve been in the market with Webstone.

SM: One of the mega-trends we are seeing is the difficulty in securing labor at any level. It’s hard to find good people. Any product that makes installation less time-intensive is going to be successful for us. We are expanding into different materials with our press valves and fittings line for gas and ACR applications. PE-RT and PEX are changing the way you plumb a house. Our Webstone products cut down on the number of components used in a hydronics system, reducing the number of potential leak paths.  Any technology that makes it so the contractor spends less time and labor is what people want.

 

PM: How is NIBCO addressing the labor shortage?

AM: Labor is tight. More and more people are retiring and not as many people are going into the workforce. The shortage will continue. That’s why we have a sales-training program to bring young people into the industry and we are big supporters of ASA’s Women in Industry. Fifty percent of the labor market is women, but our industry is a little different. That’s a huge pool of people to find talented and quality people from.

 

PM: What was attractive to NIBCO about acquiring Webstone?

AM: It was a perfect marriage for us. We’re well-known for providing valve and fittings solutions in the industry and the Webstone acquisition allows us to become involved on the hydronics side, which they are known for.

SM: It’s the scale in general. By combining the niche of a smaller, specialized business with the resources and distribution network of a larger company, we can deliver more innovation at higher levels of service and support for customers.

 

PM: How do your expansion plans — $100 million capital investment over the last four years — factor into your manufacturing facilities and distribution centers?

SM: Bottom line, reinvesting in the future of our American manufacturing facilities means re-investing in America. In total, we are adding 350,000 square feet to our manufacturing facilities in Greensboro, Georgia (operational in March 2018), Goshen, Indiana (February 2018 opening), Blytheville, Arkansas and our Stuarts Draft, Virginia location that will be operational in 2019. This allows us to expand our capacity, develop next-generation manufacturing technologies and launch new products.

 

PM: What advantages does the DARE (Development and Applied Research Engineering) lab in Elkhart give NIBCO?

SM: It helps us make better decisions and acquire the best possible information about the products we manufacture. We do our own testing there. We don’t lose time sending products out to third parties. We are free to test as many products as we have to in order to learn more. There is that old saying — know what you test and test what you know. We’re able to run tests and learn about these products and their capabilities in real time as we work through the product-development process.

 

PM: What sets NIBCO apart from the pack?

AM: We just did a brand study, and the results show we’re the No. 1 brand in terms of rough plumbing. We think that’s because of our long 113-year history of innovating and manufacturing high-quality products. Also, we’re here in the U.S. Our plants are here and that gives us the ability to react faster to situations and it gives our customers high service levels (more than 98% fill rates) and short lead times.

Another difference-maker for us is we have a factory-direct salesforce of 75 outside salespeople (NIBCO uses manufacturers rep firms for Webstone and for certain specialty channels). They can focus on NIBCO full-time in NIBCO markets with NIBCO customers. We’ve continued to add to our salesforce even during the recession when we established our sales-training program. We also have specific commercial sales managers who work with engineers to make sure NIBCO products are specified in designs.

SM: Our customer-service and technical service teams are second to none. We answer the phone in 20 seconds or less — a real person, not a computer-generated voice. Customers count on our easy accessibility and product expertise.

 

PM: What does ‘made in the USA’ mean to NIBCO?

AM: Back in the 1990s and 2000s, companies were looking to go offshore, but we made the conscious decision to not do that. We believe in products being made in America. We believe in our associates here and we are able to thrive because we make products in the United States (92% of all NIBCO products are manufactured in the U.S.). We have a motto here that our biggest asset is our NIBCO associates. They have helped us grow and have allowed us to stay in the U.S. It’s a key strategic area for us and we don’t see that changing anytime in the future. We will continue to improve what we are doing here in the U.S.

 

PM: What does the future hold for NIBCO?

AM: In the short-term, we’ve acquired two companies in the past two years and we’ve expanded our product offerings. We see a lot of continued growth in the short-term. In the long-term, we’re going to continue to invest in our plants and future as we continue to make quality products for our customers

SM: It’s hard to say how the industry is going to change, but it will change. As long as we are actively working on continuous improvement and keep changing with the needs of our customers in mind we will be fine. We are up to the challenge.

 

This article was originally titled “Five generations of American manufacturing” in the April 2018 print edition of Plumbing & Mechanical.

pm-subscribe

Recent Articles by Mike Miazga

PM Profile: Mill-Rose Co. continues to deliver innovative products to its customers

New Colorado Seminar Center takes education to next level for manufacturer’s customers

A.O. Smith A.O. Smith hosts grand opening of technical training facility

Inside the Bonomi-Frabo acquisition

Bradford White Training: 'It's who we are'

Mike-miazga_2015

Mike Miazga is the Group Editorial Director for BNP Media’s Plumbing Group. He oversee oversees the editorial content and direction of the Plumbing Group’s four brands (Plumbing & Mechanical, PM Engineer, Reeves Journal and Supply House Times) and their associated print and digital products, including the dedicated Radiant & Hydronics and Bath & Kitchen Pro websites, as well as six eNewsletters.

In his ninth year at BNP Media, Miazga originally was hired as senior editor of Plumbing & Mechanical and PM Engineer before taking over chief editor duties at Supply House Times in 2011. In addition to his role as editorial director, Miazga continues as Supply House Times chief editor and the editor of the American Supply Association’s PVF Outlook eNewsletter. Supply House Times is the official publication of ASA.

Miazga started his career in newspapers at the age of 19 and has more than 25 years of newsroom, management, editorial and public/media relations experience, and is a former high-school baseball and golf head varsity coach.

Related Articles

PM Profile: Jomar Valve's Paul Craig and Adam Stier

PM Profile: Charlotte Pipe & Foundry’s Brad Muller

PM Profile: A. O. Smith's David Chisolm and Matt Schulz

PM Profile: BrassCraft’s Rick Mejia, Pete Kattula and Jennifer Burke

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Subscribe For Free!
  • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Popular Stories

Space-saving

Preventing scale damage in tankless water heaters

The Glitch.jpg

The Glitch and Fix: Keep the cost down

Pre-fabricated snow melting

Radiant: More than just a luxury home building option

Holohan

Dan Holohan: Thankful

Siegenthaler PM

John Siegenthaler: Low temperature leverage

PM-Rectorseal-Quiz-360x184


PM-COTY 2019

Events

December 30, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Products

2020 National Plumbing & HVAC Estimator

2020 National Plumbing & HVAC Estimator

See More Products

PM_Top20Products360

Plumbing and Mechanical

Plumbing & Mechanical December 2019

2019 December

Check out the December 2019 edition of Plumbing & Mechanical: 2020 B.I.G. Book, John Siegenthaler on geothermal water-to-water heat pump system design and installation, maximizing efficiency on small-diameter piping projects and much more!
View More Create Account
  • Resources
    • Reprints
    • List Rental
    • Contact Us
    • AEC Store
    • Blogs
    • Radiant & Hydronics
    • Industry Links
    • Market Research
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • Privacy Policy
  • Want More
    • Connect
    • Survey And Sample
  • Plumbing Group
    • PM Engineer
    • Supply House Times
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Plan for 2020!

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing